Forgive and Forget
by Venomousdeers
Summary: During some college searching, Ezria approaches the topic of what happened the days that Aria ran away to Syracuse and her one-night stand. (Set after 4x24) One-shot


**Finally I have a one shot to write! Thank you Missdallywinston again for giving me an idea and saving my ass. You all need to read her stories if you haven't already. Hope y'all enjoy this story!**

"Have you looked at Columbia again? That was one of my top choices." Ezra said as he held up the pamphlet for Columbia University before Aria's eyes. Aria nodded and tossed it on the littered coffee table with the rest of them. It had been a while since the whole accident on the rooftop in Manhattan and Ezra had made a full recovery after the days he spent hospitalized. Aria had been able to forgive him and they were able to move on, though things were not always a fantasy like they used to be.

Aria was currently panicking because of college. She had received letters of acceptance from a few universities, which wasn't a surprise to Ezra, but she was stuck on which one she wanted to go to. The couple was now in Ezra's apartment, scanning multiple websites and pamphlets for some help on choosing. Aria had her legs splayed out on Ezra's lap as he searched through multiple websites and handed his laptop to his girlfriend when he found one.

She had made it into Columbia, UPenn, Berkeley, and Syracuse University. Ezra had made her apply for several colleges, but now it had backfired. She almost immediately thrown the Syracuse letter in the trash but after Ezra had asked why, she had fallen flat. She still hadn't told him about Riley. She didn't even know if he was still there or not, but she was not about to find out. The smell of liquor still made her stomach churn after those few days. Riley was nothing more than a one and done thing, and she and Ezra were far from in a relationship at that point, but she couldn't help but feel that she cheated on him in those haze filled, drunken days.

"Aria?" Ezra asked. He noticed her staring at the ripped Syracuse envelope. "Did you want to look at that one again?" His fingers were in mid-type and ready in case she wanted him to look up the college again/ Aria instantly tore her eyes away and shook her head.

"No, no, I'm okay." She shoved the envelope and the letter underneath the others with her foot and situated herself next to her boyfriend again.

"Why did I catch you trying to get rid of the Syracuse letter? Do you not want to go anymore because of your dad, because I can understand that." Ezra said with an exaggerated eye roll. Ezra did not plan on running into Byron Montgomery every time he went to visit his girlfriend in college. He draped his arm around Aria's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. He knew she had been stressed lately and was trying to help her choose before graduation came and it became too late.

Aria thought for a moment before responding. She could take the easy way out and say having her dad around campus wouldn't make her feel as free as she should when in college, or she could tell the truth and have to tell Ezra about Riley.

"Yeah, that is _a_ reason," She drawled, playing nervously with a bit of her ombréd hair. "But there's also something else. Something that I need to tell you." Aria pulled away from Ezra's embrace and looked at him in the eyes. He looked confused and tried to hold her hand, but she pulled away.

After I found out about the book, I ran away to Syracuse for a few days. I went to this stupid frat party I overheard about and got completely wasted. While I was there, I met a guy." Ezra's face continued to fall with each word. He had driven her to do those things. He had made her feel the need to get completely hammered to forget the pain. He continued to listen intently as she spoke.

"We hooked up. It meant nothing, I swear. I barely remember a thing from the first time."

"First time?" Ezra asked, his voice hardening. He felt the urge to throw up at the thought of some sleazy frat boy forcing himself in and out of his girl. Seeing and touching the parts of her beautiful body that he thought only he had the honor of seeing. Even though she had given something that was so precious to them to some nameless boy, he could only find the heart to blame himself. It was his own stupid choices that led up to that.

"Yeah," Aria's voice trailed off, realizing how horrible of an idea this was. "We did it twice. The first, I was too drunk to even remember a thing. The second was the morning after, I was still screwed up and disoriented." She could still distinctly remember the retching smell of alcohol and sweat that covered the room. And waking up to Riley playing "Antonio"; he was surely a strange character. She remembered entering the party hours before that and accepting a red solo cup from the table. A couple loud songs and refills later, she found herself in the arms of her lover for the night.

The last thing she could distinctly remembered from that night was Riley collapsing beside her after giving out and pushing her closer into his cologne reeking, sweaty body.

"I promise you, it meant nothing. It was just something to get my mind off of you and everything that happened the night on the lift." Aria stared down at her feet as dreadful memories of the night on the ski lift flashed through her mind. She did not want to see Ezra's sad expression she knew he had on and continued to look down at the ground. It was good to get it off of her chest but she knew it made him upset to hear that.

"Was he better than me?" The question tore at his ego, but he had to know. Aria's eyes seemed to widen to the size of golf balls as she shook her head furiously.

"No, no. Ezra, I told you that it meant nothing to me. It was meaningless sex." Her hand brushed the stubble on his cheek and she laid back into his chest, trying as much as she could not to lean too hard where he had been shot.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, pushing her face into his neck and inhaling the not overpowering smell of his cologne. Ezra encased his arms around his small girlfriend and hugged her close. He was thankful that she was able to forgive him and they were able to be the happy couple they were again.

"Don't be, you did what you thought you had to do. If anything, I should be the one telling you I'm sorry." He nuzzled the top of her head and gave her a small kiss to her scalp.

After a few moments of silence, Aria shot her arm out and grabbed the three pamphlets from the coffee table and held them in front of Ezra. "One down, three to go."


End file.
